1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bait holders, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved catfish bait holder. Various forms of bait are available for use in fishing for catfish. For example, worms, artificial lures and various forms of live baits are utilized. All these forms of baits suffer either from a lack of effectiveness or from inconvenient and messy bait application. Additionally, these known forms of bait are very susceptible to loss while casting. In order to overcome these disadvantages, the present invention provides a new and improved bait holder which enable a paste type bait to be conveniently utilized.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of bait holders are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a bait holder is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 339,952, which issued to A. Wakeman on Apr. 13, 1886. This patent discloses a spinning type lure provided with a wire cage for encircling a minnow. U.S. Pat. No. 1,452,377, which issued to A. Hanselman on Apr. 17, 1923, discloses a hook having an elongated shank provided with a pair of spaced rings adapted for use in encircling a live frog for use as bait. U.S. Pat. No. 2,402,730, which issued to D. Bucks on June 25, 1946, discloses a fish hook provided with a pair of dual opposed hooks connected to a single elongated shank. A pair of ring shaped bait encircling clamps are provided between the opposed hooks and are adapted for securing a live minnow. U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,540, which issued to G. Nelson et al on Apr. 14, 1953, discloses a fishing lure which provides a cage for retaining bread or other bait material above a fish hook. The bait holding cage is provided with inwardly extending projections for engagement with an annular recess of a fishing bobber. U.S. Pat. No. 2,972,831, which issued to J. Anselmi on Feb. 28, 1961, discloses a fishing lure provided with an elongated hollow cylindrical open mesh bait harness adapted to retain a live eel for use as bait.
While the above mentioned devices are suited for their intended usage, none of these devices provide a bait holder which utilizes a cylindrical sponge in conjunction with a hollow open net mesh cylinder for retaining a paste type bait. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of bait holders, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such bait holders, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.